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TechEd: Microsoft pins hope on BYOD boosting Windows Phone growth

HOUSTON: The low market share for Windows Phone 8 in the enterprise market is due to its initial failure to directly meet the 'consumer' demands of users, according to Microsoft senior director Stella Chernyak.

"A great enterprise phone starts by being a great phone for everyone. To achieve this with Windows Phone 8.1 we did a lot of things to improve the user interface and make it more customisable," Chernyak said.

"On top of this we're also supporting enterprises' core needs by offering an open device management platform. This means any vendor can build a solution to manage Windows Phone 8.1. We've already had many do this and there are currently solutions from MobileIron and Airwatch in beta."

Chernyak is one of many technology professionals to warn businesses that they can no longer afford to ignore the BYOD movement.

Chernyak explained that the strategy has already proved a hit, and that hundreds of businesses are currently testing Windows Phone 8.1 for mass deployment.

"Since unveiling it we've had an unbelievable amount of enthusiasm from enterprises for Windows Phone 8.1. Several hundred customers are participating in our enterprise adoption programme," she said.

"Several hundred in enterprise is a significant number and they are all Fortune 500-type customers. Our projection is to deploy [Windows Phones] to several million seats [individual employees] in the next few months."